blog post

How to Improve Field Sales: Solutions for Success

Introduction:

Did you know? Field sales reps spend only 35.2% of their time actively selling, with the rest of their time being consumed by administrative tasks and dealing with internal paperwork [Source]. To increase the effectiveness and productivity of your field sales representatives, it's crucial to determine exactly where they are losing time and which tasks are causing delays. By identifying these areas, businesses can find opportunities for improvement and ensure that representatives are focused on activities that drive sales and add real value.

Field sales, put across in very simple terms, are outside sales. Field sales software helps streamline various business operations, especially those on the field. A field sales representative performs the following operations:

  1. Shows product listings to customers, usually via a catalogue.
  2. Offers promotional prices to customers at times/convinces customers to make a purchase
  3. Takes an order from the customer for future delivery.
  4. Replenishes stock on shelves.

If your business model involves a lot of field sales and field services operations and your major concern is efficiency and how to improve field sales, then this is a must-read for you. 

Table of Contents:

  • Five common challenges in field sales.
  • Top solutions to improve field sales efficiency.
  • Case Study
  • Future trends in field sales.
  • Key takeaways to improve Field Sales
  • FAQ

Five Common Challenges in Field Sales:

To scale and grow, businesses must figure out what their challenges are and how they can overcome them. Here are 5 common challenges faced by field sales businesses.

1. Providing accurate pricing to customers

Field representatives often find pricing difficult. They rely on paper price lists to find the right price for customers and apply promotions, which can be confusing and time-consuming. Prices may change, and promotions may expire, making it difficult to keep the price list updated. This process gets even slower when they need to contact the back office for help. 

Using field sales software with flexible pricing features allows real-time access to prices, making the sales process faster and easier.

2. Taking orders based on current stock

Field representatives struggle to fulfil orders accurately due to a lack of real-time inventory visibility, which is essential for providing customers with accurate information.

They also face decision challenges like:

  • Should an order be taken for an out-of-stock product? 
  • Can an order be partially fulfilled?

Integrating orders taken on the field with the back-office inventory management system software can provide visibility, enhancing overall customer satisfaction.

3. Ensuring orders are captured correctly 

Manual entry of orders or customer data by field representatives is prone to errors, making it difficult to maintain accurate records. This could lead to a loss of critical details regarding customers or orders. This creates problems downstream when orders have to be accurately entered into an Excel or order management software. 

4. Entering orders into the Orders Management Software accurately and swiftly: 

Manually entering orders into Excel or order management software is time-consuming and error-prone, often leading to delivery issues like incorrect or missed orders. Such mistakes can damage customer trust, harm the brand’s reputation, and result in silent losses, as 96% of dissatisfied customers leave without complaining. [Source]

5. Measuring the efficiency of the Field Sales Rep via Analytics and Reporting:

As a business owner, tracking a Field Sales Rep's route to ensure all calls are completed often relies on blind trust. Delivery management software solves this by offering real-time route visibility and historical data through detailed reports.

With a solid strategy, business owners can address key challenges in field operations effectively.

Here are the top strategies that can be implemented with ease.

Top Solutions to improve field sales:

Efficient field operations allow businesses to respond more quickly to customer needs, optimise resource allocation, and reduce waste or downtime. While many strategies can be implemented, we’ve picked out the top strategies that will help improve the efficiency of field operations. 

1. Flexible pricing strategy to improve field sales

With Routemagic software, flexible pricing strategies can easily be configured, making closing deals easy for field sales reps. 

Routemagic software showing product pricing, enabling real-time adjustments and flexible pricing strategies.

With the Routemagic Field Sales mobile app that is connected to the back office system, the Field Sales rep can do all of these: 

  • Quickly access product prices without contacting the back office or looking up a manual catalogue
  • View pricing limits that are set per product/customer
  • Offer custom discounts to loyal customers, as set in the system

Thereby, field sales reps can adjust prices in real time based on customer needs.

2. Real-time inventory visibility to improve field sales

Research from Capgemini shows that integrated order and warehouse management systems lead to:

  • 20% increase in inventory accuracy
  • 15% improvement in order fulfillment rates
  • 25% reduction in order processing times

Imagine the peace of mind when your field sales rep knows exactly what’s in stock. Here are 3 major benefits of using inventory management system software like Routemagic:

  • Real-time inventory visibility enables field reps to take orders for future delivery or fulfill partial orders.
  • Accurate stock visibility to prevent overselling and backorders.

3. Mobile applications for field reps to improve efficiency in field sales

Are your field sales reps or field representatives struggling to manage orders, inventory, and customer data on the go? A field sales mobile app, like the one from Routemagic, can simplify their job by eliminating the need to return to the warehouse or contact the back office for every detail.

  • Orders from customers are placed in real-time in the back office app for fulfilment.
  • Enjoy real-time inventory visibility and updates to reduce the risk of stockouts.
  • Access custom promotions and pricing lists from their Mobile App
  • Boost productivity by speeding up the sales cycle; reduce admin tasks

All the field representative has to do is just focus on closing deals!

4. Boost field sales efficiency with data analytics and insights.

High-performing teams are 1.5x more likely to use data for sales forecasts. Data is invaluable for small and medium-sized businesses. Using data analytics of a field sales software like Routemagic generates reports on:

  • Time spent at customer sites
  • Customer order data
  • Compliance data and more

Get a good grip on customer data and field sales activities to improve field sales!

Case Study:

Here is an interesting story of how Bits N Bobs, an FMCG wholesaler located in Manchester whose product range includes household essentials, stationery, vaping products, and mobile phone accessories, improved their business operations.

Check out how RouteMagic helped their field sales representatives to utilise Spinner Stands and helped them in restocking and arranging them for optimal display.

Future Trends to Improve Field Sales

AI and Machine Learning:

  • Accurate demand Prediction:
    With the help of AI, analyse order and customer data to predict future orders, helping you stock up in advance for peak seasons.
  • Smarter Stock Management:
    Stay prepared with predictive insights that prevent stockouts, even during busy periods.

IoT (Internet of Things) in Field Sales Automation:

  • Enable Real-Time Communication Between Devices:
    Let’s break it down for you. IoT refers to devices connected to the Internet that share information and data in real-time. These devices “talk” to each other to help streamline operations.
  • Efficient Stock Level Monitoring:
    Imagine IoT devices installed inside your inventory or on stock shelves. When stock levels run low, these devices automatically send alerts to the back office for replenishment.
  • Avoid out-of-stock situations:
    With IoT inventory management, you'll receive timely notifications, allowing you to restock before running out of items, ensuring smooth business operations and happy customers.

Key Takeaways on How to Improve Field Sales:

  • Pricing Control: Create custom pricing and promotions in the back office app that is accessible in the mobile app. With a field sales solution software like RouteMagic, field reps can sell confidently without back-office dependency.
  • Real-Time Inventory Visibility: Give field reps accurate stock information so that they can decide to take partial orders or orders for a future date (future orders), preventing overselling and stockouts, leading to a 20% improvement in inventory accuracy.
  • Mobile Applications: Simplify tasks like order taking, stock checking, and data updates such as order-related data, inventory data, and stock-related data with mobile apps, speeding up operations.
  • Field Sales Automation: Reduce manual errors with automated order management and route planning, freeing up time for actual sales efforts.
  • Leverage Data Analytics: Track field sales rep performance and customer data for better decision-making and improved productivity.

FAQs:

What is the field sales approach?
What is field sales software?
What are common challenges in field sales?
What is CRM in field sales?
What are Field Services?
Difference between Field sales CRM and Field Service CRM
What is field sales automation?
Is field sales software different from delivery management software?
What is a delivery management system?
Should I buy delivery management software for field sales?